Marvel Apes

Marvel Apes
Cover of Marvel Apes 1 (Nov, 2008), art by John Watson
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
ScheduleBi-weekly
FormatLimited series
Genre
Publication dateNovember — December 2008
February 2009 ("0" issue)
No. of issues5 (four-issue limited series followed three months later by a "0" issue)
Creative team
Written byKarl Kesel
Artist(s)Ramon Bachs
Letterer(s)Jared K. Fletcher
Colorist(s)Javier Mena Guerrero
Editor(s)Thomas Brennan
Joe Quesada
Stephen Wacker

Marvel Apes is a four-issue limited series by comics publisher Marvel Comics which started publication in October 2008.[1] The series is written by Karl Kesel with art by Ramon Bachs and covers by John Watson.

The Marvel Apes reality is designated as Earth-8101.[2]

Premise

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Marvel Apes was first suggested as a successor to Marvel Zombies by artist and fan Mark Walsh during a convention Q&A session with Joe Quesada.[3] As with Marvel Zombies before it, Marvel Apes takes place in an alternate universe, in this case a simian-dominated counterpart to Earth-616 that hosts anthropoid versions of popular Marvel superheroes and villains.

As with the introduction of Marvel Zombies in Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Marvel Apes universe is visited by an existing Marvel character, in this case Gibbon.[4] He is accompanied by a female scientist named Fiona Fitzhugh in what has been described by Kesel as a "The Lord of the Rings-style sprawling epic".

Plot

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Martin Blank, the Gibbon, having been restored to his simian appearance, is left with his personal life in shambles. His attempts to side with the heroes are frustrated by his ineptitude and even Princess Python, previously a caring and deeply devoted wife, is now fed up with the meek loser that Gibbon has become. Out of boredom and depression, he replies to an ad posted in the Daily Bugle by Fiona Fitzhugh, a spunky and cheery young scientist hoping to study the nature of super-powered individuals. Upon hearing that Gibbon had his powers since birth (as opposed to the majority of mutants who gain their mutation during puberty), Fiona analyzes his aura and hypothesizes that Gibbon may come from another reality in the Multiverse. While attempting to contact such a reality, Fiona and the Gibbon are sucked into a portal that takes them to a world populated by intelligent simians. Gibbon manages to help Spider-Monkey and the Ape-Vengers, simian versions of the Avengers, subdue Doctor Ooktavius, and he is inducted into the Ape-Vengers. Fiona is sent to ask for Reed Richards' help in returning to Earth-616; she discovers that in the Marvel Apes reality the cosmic storm that gave the Fantastic Four their powers also gave a human appearance to Susan Storm.

Gibbon is at first excited to become a member of the Ape-Vengers, but after witnessing the brutal lynching of Doctor Ooktapus, he questions the Ape-Vengers methods. Meanwhile, Fiona and the ape Mr. Fantastic are able to recreate a gateway back to Earth-616. Captain America then reveals that he is actually the simian counterpart of the vampire Baron Blood, who in this reality was able, by sampling Captain America's blood in the forties, to take over his appearance and powers. The super-soldier serum also removed Baron Blood's vulnerability to sunlight. After turning the Invaders into vampires as well, Blood became the leader of the Ape-Vengers and uses their bloody lynching of supervillains as a way to feed.

Gibbon, with the help of a cadre of dissident heroes, finds the real Captain America, still frozen in ice, and thaws him to lead the last free heroes against their vampiric foe. Baron Blood and the vampiric Invaders are destroyed, but the portal is destroyed after Gibbon, Fiona, and the ape version of Speedball are sent through. Recovering from the battle, they prepare for the possibility of residents of the ape universe finding another way into their reality.

Characters

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Heroes

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  • Ape-X — A small monkey that becomes a large gorilla upon donning a magic Mexican wrestling mask.
  • Ape-Vengers — This reality's version of the Avengers.
  • Beyonder — A chimpanzee version of Beyonder.
  • Black Wido-rangutan — An orangutan version of Black Widow.
  • Cleook — A primate version of Clea.
  • Dagger — A primate version of Dagger.
  • Daregorilla — A gorilla version of Daredevil.
  • Doctor Druid — A primate version of Doctor Druid.
  • Doctor Strange — A gorilla version of Doctor Strange.
  • Elektra — A primate version of Elektra.
  • Eternals — This reality's version of the Eternals.
    • Thena — A monkey version of Thena.
  • Fantastic Four — This reality's version of the Fantastic Four.
    • Mister Fantastic — A baboon version of Mister Fantastic.
    • Invisible Simian — This reality's version of Invisible Woman. Unlike the rest of this reality's Fantastic Four when she acquired her powers, it also caused her to resemble a human.
    • Simian Torch — A primate version of the Human Torch.
    • Thing — A gorilla version of the Thing.
  • Ghost Rider — A gorilla version of Ghost Rider.
  • Hulk — A gorilla version of Hulk.
  • Insimians — This reality's version of the Inhumans.
    • Black Bolt — A primate version of Black Bolt who is the King of the Insimians.
    • Medusa — A primate version of Medusa who is the Queen of the Insimians.
    • Gorgon — A primate version of Gorgon.
    • Karnak — A primate version of Karnak.
    • Triton — A primate version of Triton.
  • Iron Fist — A monkey version of Iron Fist.
  • MACH IV — A primate version of MACH IV.
  • Power Simian — A gorilla version of Luke Cage.
  • Punisher — A baboon version of Punisher.
  • Silver Simian — A gorilla version of Silver Surfer.
  • Wolfsbape — aAn ape version of Wolfsbane.
  • X-Apes — This reality's version of the X-Men.
    • Professor X — An ape version of Professor X.
    • Angel — A primate version of Angel.
    • Beast — A primate version of Beast.
    • Cannonball — A primate version of Cannonball.
    • Colossus — A gorilla version of Colossus.
    • Cyclops — A primate version of Cyclops.
    • Icemonk — A primate version of Iceman.
    • Marvel Chimp — A chimpanzee version of Jean Grey.
    • Nightcrawler — A primate version of Nightcrawler.
    • Rogue — A primate version of Rogue.
    • Shadowcat — A primate version of Shadowcat.
    • Warlock — A primate version of Warlock.
    • Wolverine — A primate version of Wolverine.

Villains

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  • Baron Blood — In this reality, Baron Blood retains his appearance and posed as Captain America while sampling his blood.
  • Baron Heinrich Zemook — A primate version of Baron Heinrich Zemo.
  • Doctor Doom — A baboon version of Doctor Doom.
  • Doctor Ooktapus — An orangutan version of Doctor Octopus.
  • Enchantress — An orangutan version of Enchantress.
  • Invaders — This reality's version of the Invaders who were infected by Baron Blood and turned into vampires.
    • Winter Soldier — A primate version of the Winter Soldier.
    • Namor — A primate version of Namor.
    • Red Raven — A monkey version of Red Raven.
    • Toro — A primate version of Toro.
  • Lizard — This reality's version of the Lizard.
  • L-ook-i — A primate version of Loki
  • Master Brotherhood of Evil Apes — A group of primate villains. The name is a combination of the Masters of Evil and the Brotherhood of Mutants.
  • Mole Monk — A monkey version of Mole Man.
  • Ooktron — A robot monkey version of Ultron.

Other characters

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Sequel

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Further information: Marvel_Zombies_(series) § Marvel_Apes

Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution, a sequel that pits Earth 2149's Marvel Zombies against their alternate meta-simian equivalents entitled, was released, as well as four other one-shot issues: Speedball, Amazing Spider-Monkey, Grunt Line, and Prime Eight.

Collected editions

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Title Material collected Published date ISBN
Marvel Apes Marvel Apes #0-4, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #110-111 April 2009 978-0785139140
Marvel Apes: The Evolution Starts Here Marvel Apes: Amazing Spider-Monkey, Marvel Apes: Grunt Line, Marvel Apes: Prime Eight, Marvel Apes: Speedball October 2009 978-0785139911

In other media

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The Marvel Apes incarnation of Spider-Man, known as the Spider-Monkey, appeared in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He is depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Forces.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ NYCC '08: Marvel Apes Run Wild, Marvel.com, April 20, 2008
  2. ^ a b Jasper, Gavin (2022-12-13). "Guide to the Weirdest Spider-Men in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trailer". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  3. ^ MyCup o' Joe Week 5, Marvel.com, April 22, 2008
  4. ^ NYCC '08: Marvel Apes[permanent dead link], Newsarama, April 20, 2008
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